Part of the Family - Our Relationship with the Hotel Industry - Part 2

In the previous post, Treated like a King, I discussed how we first met Wayne Lee, the then-Vistana Hotel Kuantan manager.

Soon after meeting him, we became quickly integrated into the Vistana family and treated with the utmost love and attention that a close-knit family naturally provides. I sometimes wonder about the whys and hows we were extended so many privileges, it was almost too good to be true.

The girls enjoying one of our many stays at Vistana Hotel Kuantan

We were grateful indeed for invitations to stay at Vistana Hotel free of charge; I posted a detailed and highly complimentary write-up on this blog each time we were afforded such generosity by the management.

Wayne even took us behind the scenes one time, showing us all the back alleys in the basement where all the real action that keeps the hotel running, takes place. This included a very interesting, if not humid and stuffy, tour and explanation of the laundry room, washing machines, and chemicals used in cleaning. That post can be found here: Vistana behind the scenes

Of course, I didn't expect free food and stays to last forever, even though I was giving the hotel more publicity on the internet through my blog and facebook pages. Wayne was transferred to another YTL property and a new manager, Sharon, came in for her second spell in charge at Vistana Hotel Kuantan. I really didn't feel comfortable with asking Sharon if we could stay for a night, or if we could sit down in the Coffee House and have a lunch on the house. She didn't know us. But over the years we have become good friends with Sharon as well, and we still receive all the emails and invitations to events at the hotel, including this year's Rebranding Launch Event.

Nowadays, I have no problem paying for a room like any other person would have to. However, we remain extremely thankful for the times when things came free. We still have options to enjoy free stays at hotels, on a services exchange kind of basis, as will be explained in Part 3!

Treated like a King - Our relationship with the Hotel Industry - Part 1

Since moving to Kuantan in 2006, we have become very much involved with the hotel industry, both in win-win situations with hotels, and at our own personal cost. Today's post addresses how we first became seriously involved with the hotel industry.

The post can be found at my hotels blog by clicking on this link:

Treated like a King

I'd really appreciate your visit to my blog dedicated solely to my love of hotels, but you can also read the article in full right here.

We go to a hotel expecting a little pleasure, a little pampering, and on the whole, being treated like a King. As the description of my blog states: "Hotels give ordinary people the chance to enjoy a piece of luxury, and to be made to feel extremely important, for 24 hours."

While not all hotels give you that sort of experience, and shame on them if they fail to do so, most hotels will treat you like a King and really hope that you will return in the future.

Posing for a photo in a room at Vistana Hotel Kuantan with then-Hotel Manager Wayne Lee, accompanied by a couple of staff and my family.

One hot and balmy afternoon I was riding my bicycle back home from Teluk Chempedak beach. On the way I would always pass by Vistana Hotel Kuantan. I was curious. It was a hotel I had only ever been inside twice - once for a university function for my wife, and once to look around the meeting room floors out of curiosity. With sweat dripping down  my face on this particular afternoon, I decided to drop in and ask to speak with the Hotel Manager to make a proposal.

Within 5 minutes, this tall and lean man called Wayne Lee approached me in the lobby and we sat down and chatted for a while. I asked him if he would be willing to give us a free stay if in return, I created a blog post to promote his hotel. To my surprise, he immediately agreed and told me to call him as soon as we were ready for our stay!

This was the beginning of a long friendship with Vistana Hotel Kuantan and Wayne Lee, which continues to run now. This extends to Vistana Hotel KL and our comradeship with Pauline Gan too. From my very first contact as a sweaty (and perhaps smelly young man) who came in off the street demanding a free stay, I was treated like a King.

We continue to be treated with the utmost friendliness and respect by all of the hotel staff at Vistana Hotel Kuantan, many of whom we have become good friends with - Sharon, Ms. Fan, Nurul & Nurul, Hanafidhiyah, Carmen, Azam, Sivabalan, Wan, Kamarul, Aazhar, Zul, Hazriq, Zahar, Aman, Roslina, Yok Chi - and many others who have dealt directly with us for the purposes of business and leisure. My thanks and appreciation cannot adequately be expressed in mere words to all of these great people who have treated us like Kings (and Queens) and presented so many opportunities to our family.

When Wayne Lee was transferred to The Majestic Hotel in KL, the same positive treatment was extended to us there and more friendships have been made, particularly with Steven Chen whom we now deal with at Majestic Hotel. We look forward to our next visit to this remarkable hotel!

Wayne Lee, then-Hotel Manager at The Majestic Hotel KL, poses for a photo with a colleague in a beautiful guest room

My Journey to Kuantan - Part 2 - Serving As A Volunteer

This week I'm recounting my journey to Kuantan. If you missed Part 1, do click this link to read 

Raised in England

I finished my formal education at English Martyrs Roman Catholic high school with 1 A, 6 Bs and 3 Cs. I was pleasantly surprised and quite ecstatic with these results since all of my school years were spent in the love of sports. Quite frankly, English aside, I felt no interest sitting in a classroom.

My passion was competing on a tennis court and a football pitch, where I enjoyed huge success with my church team from the years of 1994-2002. We played against other teams from churches in the area, and I can tell you those battles were serious and anything but holy! It fired me up and I developed a love of winning.

All through my teenage years I knew that when I reached 19 years old, I would go and serve as a full-time volunteer for my church. This would last for 2 years. It would mean leaving behind my family and friends (and beloved sports!), to go and do something for somebody else.

The only fuzzy detail was where exactly in the world I would be asked to perform my volunteer work!

On 19 March, 2002, I received a letter from the church headquarters that would change the direction of my life forever.

I had been chosen to serve in Singapore and Malaysia!

I remember excitedly pulling out the atlas and raiding Google to find out where these countries were!

This was my name tag which I wore in some parts of my volunteer service

So for two years, from June 2002 - June 2004, I served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a most fantastic part of the world. I worked in various places around Singapore and Malaysia.

I have filled over 600 pages of my personal record detailing these two years. Suffice it to say they were the best two years of my life.

Now I'll share just a few of the many photos from this period in my life:

During our volunteer service, there were certain standards of appearance, conduct and organization we were expected to show. This is a typical 'blue planner' we used to plan our activities each week:

At Hong Kong airport en route to Singapore to begin my volunteer service (9th July, 2002)

Celebrating Chinese New Year in Petaling Jaya (PJ), West Malaysia, with some good friends from China (2003)

On a crowded bus going to the beach in Kuching (2003)

While I was serving in Kuching, East Malaysia I met this lovely family - Brother Michael, with two of his daughters, Florina (L) and Florianna (R). He had three other daughters; Felicia was studying in Johor, Felicity was at school in Genting, and Fidelia, who would later become my wife, was studying at Labuan. (2003)

Being sent to Kuching and meeting Fidelia's family was a huge part of my journey to Kuantan, even though I didn't know it at the time!

Meeting for dinner with church members in a small wooden house in Kuching, East Malaysia (2003)

Having a meeting with fellow volunteers on the balcony of the church in Kuching, East Malaysia (late 2003/early 2004)

Visiting a fruit farm in Kuching, East Malaysia (2004)

Two of the cutest little girls I met on my mission, Sitiawan, West Malaysia (2004)

Meeting with fellow volunteers in Ipoh, West Malaysia (2004)

Riding the MRT in Singapore one last time before my two-year volunteer contract expired and I'd head back home to England (June 2004)

With Elder Hubbard and Elder Claus at Changi International Airport, Singapore. Awaiting my flight home with a great deal of sadness (23 June, 2004)

My two-year volunteer mission was pivotal in my journey to Kuantan. I got to know and love the country of Malaysia, and I became good friends with Fidelia's family in Kuching!

Please visit this link for all you need to know about my church's volunteer missionary service program and how it works.

Stay tuned for Part 3 tomorrow!

Vistana Hotel - Our 2nd Home

Vistana Hotel Kuantan has treated us so well over the last 6 months. We are part of the Vistana family and have enjoyed a number of lovely stays there, held an English Workshop there, and received warm hospitality and excellent service.

The image is of Vistana Hotel emerging from the trees as one approaches from Kuantan town.

Lunch and tour of Vistana Hotel, Kuantan with General Manager, Wayne Lee

This lunchtime we had the pleasure of visiting Vistana Hotel in Kuantan for lunch and a tour of the hotel.

General Manager, Wayne Lee, accompanied us throughout our visit to Vistana Hotel, Kuantan.

We were also joined by Sales Director, Nurul Raffar for lunch, and later by another Nurul from the Front Desk for the tour of the hotel.

Wayne Lee is young, up-to-date, and passionate about his job. He makes for nice company at Vistana Hotel, where guests are made to feel that the staff are part of a large family at this neat and clean hotel in Kuantan.

The highlight of lunch was the huge ABC (some sort of ice dessert popular in Malaysia) that my wife ordered. As we saw it coming I remember thinking "What the hell is that?!" Anyway, Fie enjoyed it!

Sivabalan served us our food and drinks with a constant smile and is a lovely man who works at the restaurant there. Very impressed with him. In fact, Vistana Hotel belongs to YTL Hotels group, and prides itself on excellent customer service. Make sure you check out the link to that fantastic YTL Hotels website!

Wayne Lee previously worked at JW Marriott Hotel, which also comes under YTL Hotels, and upholds superb standards of service and excellence.

The rooms at Vistana Hotel Kuantan, as with the hotel itself, are simple, clean and attractive, following a contemporary style of design. The main target customers are those coming here on business. 

There is a 'Suite' on each floor. Here is what it looks like:

Lauren modelling on a corner sofa in another room

All hotels in Malaysia are required to have some local batik art on display which goes towards the star rating of the hotel. Here is an example of Vistana Hotel Kuantan's batik art collection:

Here are a few images of the swimming pool at Vistana Hotel Kuantan, which is open from 7am - 7pm daily...

Vistana Hotel Kuantan is a beautiful hotel located near the heart of Kuantan town, and just 10 minutes drive from the famous Teluk Chempedak beach. The staff there are very welcoming, friendly and helpful, and the hotel is simple, clean and attractive.

With the same beds that are used by JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton Hotels, consisting of many layers in a thick mattress, Vistana Hotel could just offer the best night's sleep in Kuantan.

We are very much looking forward to staying there for a night soon!

CPB members, vote for my photos here

Mydeal.com Part 2

A week ago I blogged about the website

 www.mydeal.com.my. 

Mydeal is a website which offers various deals for people all around Malaysia on numerous goods and services, most popularly, food. 

Within the last 7 days mydeal has opened up here in Kuantan, which is pretty exciting. Yesterday's deal involved 98% off a whole package at New York Skin Solutions. That deal still has 9 hours to run today. Too good to pass up! So if you're living in Kuantan, CLICK HERE to go straight to that deal.

Looking forward to more deals in Kuantan. It's certainly shrewd business!

Check out the facebook page to gain more news and information:

http://www.facebook.com/MyDEAL.com.my.KT

On a more serious note, a letter of complaint

We are so happy with our newborn baby daughter Leah, but the whole process of being in the hospital was a horrible couple of days where the service was awful. I wasn't happy at all so I had to complain. Upon reaching home, I formed this letter which I emailed to the Malaysian Ministry of Health and to HTAA (Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan), the hospital in Kuantan where Fidelia gave birth:

To Whom It May Concern,

My wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in the early hours of Wednesday 15th June, 2011, at HTAA, Kuantan. But, I'm sad to relate, we endured one inconvenience or problem after another. It was an awful two days at the hospital as we witnessed outrageous unprofessionalism in the vast majority of staff we encountered.

I was absolutely appalled and shocked at some of the antics of nurses there.

It all started when my wife was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning due to painful and consistent contractions. While I waited outside the screening room I was not informed by any staff about the progress of my wife. I was waiting for a good two hours, completely in the dark as to my wife's condition. Nobody made any effort whatsoever to update me on events. Eventually, after hearing screams coming from the room, and becoming increasingly worried, I went to ask a nurse what was going on. She couldn't even answer me, probably because of poor English, so the male doctor came out to tell me that my wife is going to be sent to the labour room right away!

After exiting the ambulance I walked beside my wife's bed, doing all within my power to comfort her. It turned out that the baby's head was already protruding, even while she was still in the screening room in a different building! Why did it take so long to get my wife to the labour room, and for the ambulance to arrive from just around the corner?

As we made our way to the delivery room, none of the two accompanying nurses attempted to communicate with me to describe my wife's condition. I was left to walk into walls and the nurses showed complete disregard for me when they allowed the double doors to close right in my face! It was as if I didn't even exist to them!

My wife was in labour and the baby was on it's way out by the time we reached the labour room. Of course, I attempted to go in with her and I was told by a flurry of nurses and a male doctor that I wasn't allowed to enter. I pressed them as to why but was offered no satisfactory explanation! Instead the nurses were laughing. I still don't know what was so funny. The male doctor was rather rude as well, when I heard him remark "What's his problem?" as the doors were closing. I clearly heard it and asked him what he just said, but he flatly denied saying anything. I refused to leave the labour hall and after two minutes they told me I could come in, where a few minutes later my wife gave birth to our daughter.

No sooner had the baby come out than I was once again told to leave my wife's side without any type of explanation at all. For 45 minutes I waited outside with no update or explanation by any nurse whatsoever. What sort of treatment is this? The hospital pretends to be husband-friendly, but I can tell you from my experience, it is a complete joke. I was made to feel like a stranger off the street while my dear wife had to suffer without me. I am severely upset by this, as is my wife. There is absolutely nothing husband-friendly about this pathetic hospital!

Eventually after stitching was completed on my wife, I was able to accompany her to the ward. But the problems didn't stop there.

Later on Wednesday I brought along my parents and 3-year-old daughter to visit my wife and our newborn during the scheduled visiting hours. I soon learned that there is a supposed rule that children under 12 years of age are not allowed into the wards during visiting hours. I find this absolutely terrible and fail to understand the reason behind this ridiculous rule! I'm sad to say that Malaysia is decades behind the rest of the civilized world. A female Indian security guard kept pestering us, speaking to us In Bahasa Melayu, which of course, neither me, nor my parents can speak. She was determined to pull my 3-year-old daughter away from this special moment to visit her new baby sister. She had also been missing her mother a lot and was so excited to see her. We asked the guard why my 3-year-old can't be here to visit on numerous occasions but we were never given an explanation. So we completely refused and just ignored her. Eventually she left us in peace and later even had the cheek to tell us that the 'sister' (head nurse) was angry! I will tell you that I was more angry than any 'sister' at that time! But no-one came to tell my daughter to leave, so I'm wondering if such a foolish rule really exists?

The next day during my visit my wife informed me that the nurse who is supposed to be checking her blood pressure and other things, wasn't doing her job properly at all. She simply opened the book and wrote down an imaginary blood pressure and pulse without even checking! I was so shocked at the complete and utter unprofessionalism and negligence in this hospital! My wife was suffering from hypertension and a nurse is basically jeopardizing my wife's health by guessing her blood pressure! How can this be? I approached some senior nurses on the ward to complain about this. They called over the nurse in question and she denied my allegations. I pressed her about it and told her she was lying. Then she had nothing to say and quickly went off to check my wife's blood pressure properly.

I have no words left to describe how shocked I am about this nurse's awful negligence of my wife's health on ward Melor 1B The nurse in question was (name withheld). I am disgusted at her lazy attitude to this most important work. A hospital is supposed to protect the health of its patients but in this case it was jeopardizing their health! It's just not good enough and I demand there to be a full and thorough investigation into this serious matter. (Name withheld) also invented mysterious figures when checking my newborn baby too! As I've said, this is completely outrageous! There is absolutely no excuse to not properly check a patient's health.

As to whether my complaint has reached a more senior figure in Ward Melor 1B, I have no idea. That is why I'm bringing this entire case to the Ministry of Health and to the HTAA hospital in Kuantan. I am severely unhappy and dissatisfied with the appalling service we have received, and would like to see some action taken so that no nurses like (name withheld) are allowed to continue putting patients health at such great risk.

Yours Faithfully,

Duncan D. Horne

Am I being too fussy? Do I even have an argument here? I was very upset with the dire effort of service we received, so I lodged this formal complaint. Surely we shouldn't have to tolerate such negligence and rudeness when it comes to our health!

What say ye?

What is the most urgent thing that needs to be done in Kuantan? - Poll Analysis

So, the poll of the past two months is closed, and a total of 66 people cast their votes. Thanks to those who voted who either live in Kuantan or are from Kuantan. There was no clear winner as the results were well spread over 4 of the 6 options.

Implementing a public transportation system received 31% of the votes, representing just under 1/3 of all voters. I must admit that I have only seen perhaps a single public bus per year while I've been living here. I'm aware that there are a few buses which go around a small part of Kuantan, and out to places further afield like Gambang and Pekan. However, a proper, well-organised public bus system serving people all around Kuantan town would be a welcome addition, and provide a cheaper alternative to expensive taxi rides.

Although the public transportation system idea received the highest percentage of votes, on the other side it also means that 69% of voters decided that there were other things more important for Kuantan than a public transportation system. 

In second place with 16 votes (24%) is beautifying places of interest. Kuantan is rich in places to go and things to say, but unfortunately some of those places are old, run-down, dirty or under-staffed, making these venues an actual turn-OFF. One example is the Kuantan Waterfront, which could, and should, be a beautiful place to visit, but has all of the problems I just mentioned.

Coming in third is solving the rubbish problem, which gained 13 votes (19%). This admittedly is a major area of concern in Kuantan, with blocked drains, public disposal areas beside housing, over-flowing and unattended bins, along with a complete lack of bins. It doesn't help that the public have the unbelievable confidence of throwing any and all types of rubbish on the floor, just like that. This option is my personal choice, closely followed by improving customer service.

In fourth place is promoting Kuantan to better attract tourists. This option had 11 votes (equating to 16% of voters). With better promotion, I am absolutely sure that more visitors would love to come to Kuantan because it is after all, a beautiful place with good shopping avenues, great hotels, interesting religious sites, and located close to the beach.

The two lowest finishers were improving customer service (only 3 votes - 4%) and improving the English language (2 votes - 3%). I am extremely surprised that only 3 out of 66 people voted to improve customer service. The service I have received in Kuantan has been nothing short of mediocre. I think it reflects a general "tidak apa-apa" (never mind; it's ok) attitude amongst locals. Actually, it's NOT ok. As a customer of various services, I have been left terribly frustrated at too many inconveniences caused. I think if there is to be an increase in foreign visitors, the standard of customer service will be the one important aspect that will determine how they view Kuantan in the future, and whether they come back again.

Improving the English language finished bottom of the pile, the most unpopular option in the poll. English is often frowned upon by teachers as they feel Malay should  be spoken more, as this identifies who they are - citizens of Malaysia. However, as Kuantan continues to grow and welcome increasing numbers of tourists, writing and speaking English will become a necessity to its prosperity.

My apologies finally, to those who weren't able to take part in this poll as it was restricted to those who know Kuantan. I hope you will all enjoy voting in the next poll which will appear at the top right of my blog.

So, now that you have voted in what Kuantan needs to improve on, I'd love to hear from you in analysis. Why did you cast your vote for that specific option? What do you think about Kuantan currently? If you didn't manage to vote, what would you have chosen?

You can leave me a comment below, or alternatively, you can contribute to the discussion on this poll by clicking on the tab at the top of the page.

Thanks, look forward to hearing your opinions!

McDonalds Delivery in Kuantan

Last night I wasn't feeling too well so we decided to order McDonalds. However, we got ourselves into a great mess.

We waited a painful 45 minutes as our stomachs growled. We were sure glad to see the McDonalds Delivery man arrive with our food. We paid the money and sat down at the table, licking our lips in anticipation. My wife pulled out a burger wrapped in a yellow packet and placed it in front of me. After closer inspection, I discovered it was a McChicken burger, and not the double cheeseburger I'd ordered. We discovered that there was also a stray prosperity burger on the table, which was not part of our order. The receipt was correct, but the food was not ours! The delivery man had made a quick getaway as we rushed to the balcony to see if he was still there.

We called back and explained to McDonalds what had happened, at around 9:25pm. We were told that they would have our order delivered "as soon as possible", a phrase which I don't trust whatsoever in the country of Malaysia.

With stomachs rumbling harder, we waited for the next 40 minutes, wondering what "as soon as possible" really meant. Our food should be here any minute now. At 10:10pm we received a call from McDonalds. "What's wrong now?!" I lamented as my wife took the call. We were informed that they will ask the driver if he can cook our meal for us. (The store closed at 10pm so it was already after hours). I thought it was already on the way, being delivered "as soon as possible!!!" "What the hell have they been doing since we called about the wrong order?!?!" I despaired, an angry stomach adding bite. The answer is, I have absolutely no idea.

So we waited again. In the meantime we gave the prosperity burger to our neighbour, after McDonalds said we could keep the errant order. We also began eating the french fries and McChicken burger whilst waiting.....and waiting.....and waiting.....

Our food finally arrived at 10:35pm, almost 2 hours after we originally placed our order, at 8:40pm. The delivery man said something to me in Bahasa Melayu, which went in one ear and out the other, and handed over a suspiciously heavy brown paper bag of food. I managed to force out a "thanks" before opening the bag to see what we got this time.

It turned out that the bag contained two double cheeseburgers, a hot and spicy McChicken burger, a prosperity burger, three medium french fries and two pieces of McD fried chicken! Another coke, and a sprite that didn't taste like tonic water, as the first one did, was also handed over to us, along with enough chilli sauce packets to last a year!

In the delivery guy's attempt to cover up his mistake, he gave us so much food that we would never have been able to finish it, neither do I endorse eating so much junk food at one time! However, McDonalds still couldn't get our 6 chicken nuggets to us - which was Lauren's meal - so we gave her the two pieces of fried chicken instead. We passed a couple of burgers and a french fries to our excited neighbours who couldn't believe their luck again!

I appreciate the gesture of extra food, but that's beside the point. Once again, we were on the wrong end of poor customer service, and the 6 chicken nuggets we ordered, mysteriously never turned up. It was too late, and I was too tired, to enquire where they were.

We spent the best part of 2 hours waiting for our food, frustrated at how such a simple task could go so wrong, and unhappy with the service.




I'm on a see-saw of emotions with Malaysia. 




Beautiful place. . . . .




Dreadful service.

Malaysian Immigration Experiences

Well, I've had some interesting if contrasting experiences in two different Immigration complexes within the last week.

Firstly, I was moving through the new CIQ (Customs, Immigration and Quarantine) Complex in Johor Bahru last Friday on my way back from Singapore. Receiving only two days was a kick in the teeth, and the manner in which it was done was extremely rude and highly distasteful. After 6 hours on a bus to Singapore and with the prospect of another 6 hours back to Kuantan, a two-day chop was not at all pleasant, leaving a bad taste in the mouth and an evil thought in the mind.

Anyway, I made my way to the Kuantan Immigration Complex the following Monday, a day late, it then being the 6th July, so technically I had overstayed by a day. I had been preparing myself to explain to them what had happened and hope that they would be lenient. I fasted and prayed about it. When I arrived, a young Muslim woman neatly dressed with an accompanying 'tudung' (head cover) addressed me and took my passport while I filled out an extension form. Submitting the form I sat down and waited to be called up, sure that I would be asked why I've overstayed and resultingly be given a warning or something worse. As it is, that young officer was also surprised that I had only been given two days at the CIQ and explained that she would be giving me a 3-month chop free of charge. "This is what you deserve," she later told me.

How refreshing! What great service I encountered that day at the Kuantan Immigration Complex! And what a complete contrast to my earlier experience at the CIQ. I'm extremely thankful for the Immigration officers here in Kuantan, and their understanding of my situation. This is the sort of service that will take Malaysia forward and endear foreigners to its shores.

I'm learning that when something bad happens, it's generally a sign that God has something glorious in store for you if you endure well.

And that wasn't the end of this little episode of mine.

I had made a complaint on the internet to the Malaysian Government website about my experience at the CIQ in Johor Bahru. I received an email on Tuesday 7th July informing me that my complaint was being investigated. Then on Wednesday, the Kuantan Immigration called me in for an interview concerning my complaint. So on Thursday I arrived and was asked various questions about the nature of my complaint by that same Muslim woman who had been so generous earlier in the week. Once again, the service I received was excellent, and I now have the opportunity to gain a 6-month visa which she introduced to me after the interview.

So things went from awful to awesome during this last week. Life is a roller-coaster wherever you are, but mine has just done a loop-the-loop and I feel re-invigorated and satisfied once more.